


they came to deeper understanding of one another

by Kaylin881



Series: Silmarillion Unrequited Soulmarks [1]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Character Study, Gen, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Teacher-Student Relationship, Unrequited Soulmarks, not that sort of relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 10:54:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14747501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaylin881/pseuds/Kaylin881
Summary: Rúmil invents writing, and names start appearing on the skin of every elf in Valinor. What's going on, and why does the string of Sarati down his arm spell out "Curufinwë Fëanáro"?This is not written as shippy; Rúmil and Fëanor's relationship is platonic, as are many soulmate relationships in this AU. It's marked complete because it stands alone, but I may add a second chapter if I can figure out my personal headcanon for what happens to Rúmil after the darkening, and there will be more works in this series dealing with other elves and their soulmarks.





	they came to deeper understanding of one another

**Author's Note:**

  * For [consumptive_sphinx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/consumptive_sphinx/gifts).



> This is another work which uses my unrequited soulmarks concept. The premise is that everyone is born with a name written somewhere on their body, belonging to the person who will have the biggest impact in their life. Or, in this case, they develop them after someone gets around to inventing writing.
> 
> This was written as the first part of a birthday present for consumptive_sphinx. Further instalments in the series will be forthcoming.

When Rúmil invented writing, he wasn’t anticipating that it would start showing up on the bodies of his acquaintances without him—or anyone else—putting it there. For the past week, there has been an almost constant stream of elves outside his door wanting him to decipher the strings of Sarati that have inked themselves under their skin overnight.

The writing is always a name, almost always in the standard format of a fathername followed by a mothername. Sometimes the name belongs to someone the person knows, while other times it is unfamiliar. There seems to be no pattern to the relationships at first, but as Rúmil deciphers more and more of the inexplicable markings, questioning each elf about the person whose name is on their body, he finds that in just about every case where the name is known to the person, they will say that the named elf has changed their life, or is the most important person in it.

He wonders if the same will be true in the future of those who have not yet met the elf to whom their name belongs. He wonders what he would say if someone a hundred or a thousand years from now were to ask him about Curufinwë Fëanáro.

A decade later, King Finwë announces the birth of his son and heir, and Rúmil starts asking himself, instead, what it says about him that the most important person in his life will be the future king of the Noldor. When Finwë summons him to the royal palace twelve years after that, he isn’t even particularly surprised to discover that he is being offered the position of tutor to the young prince. For a moment, he considers refusing. If he accepts, this will be the moment that defines his relationship with Curufinwë Fëanáro for the rest of eternity. They will always be teacher and pupil, mentor and student, no matter what comes after.

Rúmil decides he can live with that.

Seventy years later, Fëanáro—who has gone in the space of those seventy years from “Prince Curufinwë” to “Curufinwë” to the easy familiarity of his mothername—invents the tengwar. Rúmil, who has gone from teacher to mentor to friend in the same time, has a front-row seat to his slightly panicked social flailing as the third couple this week ask him to read the strange writing on their new baby’s arm.

He thinks he might be starting to see why this person, this brilliant young man, is supposed to be the one who will define his life. Less than a century old and he’s already matching Rúmil’s greatest achievement. Eclipsing it, even. Rúmil might be envious, even resentful, except that he gets to _watch_.


End file.
